Xiaomi elevates India Head Manu Kumar Jain as Global VP

NEW DELHI: Chinese handset maker Xiaomi has elevated its India Head Manu Kumar Jain to a global role as its Vice President.

The appointment comes weeks after another global vice president Hugo Barra quit the firm to return to the Silicon Valley and lead Facebook's virtual-reality efforts, including the Oculus VR.

"Manu, congratulations from the entire Xiaomi family on your promotion to Vice President of Xiaomi!," Xiaomi said in a Facebook post.

Under Jain's leadership, Xiaomi's operations in India expanded from a small team into India's second largest smartphone vendor in the country with 10.7 per cent market share, the post added.

Barra was considered as the face of the company and his exit was seen as a big blow to the company's international ambitions.

Industry watchers said Jain's elevation indicates the importance of the Indian market, which is one of the fastest growing markets globally. It crossed the USD 1 billion revenue mark in India last year.

Apart from being the VP of the company, Jain will also be Managing Director, Xiaomi India.